William h



N. PETERS FHOTU-LITHOGRAFHEH. WASHINGTON D C WILLIAM ld. BUTTON, 'OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 76,423, dated April 7, 1868.

IMPROVED CABINET-BEDSTEAD.

@its Stlgemlt referat tu' im tipa tettets ntent :mt mating mrt at ,tige Seite.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. DUTTON, of Philadciphia, in the county of Philadelphia, and State ct' Pennsylvania, have invented a new and improved Cabinetdedstead and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference beingl had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this speciicatiolf.l v

This invention relates to a new and useful improvement in that class of bedsteadswhich are constructed so as to fold upward, and befconcealed from View when not in use, and present the appearance'oi` a book-case, or other piece of furniture generally used in sitting or reception-rooms.

The invention consists'in an improved manner of hanging the bedstead, as hereinafter fully shown and described, whereby the bedstead maybe counterpOiSed, so as to require but a slight effort to-raise and lower it.

The invention further ejo'nsists in a novel application of legs or supports to the bedstead, as hereinafter fully shown and described, whereby the legsor supports will be automatically folded and unfolded by the raising and lowering of theibedstend,' and in such a manner as not to interfere in the least with the application of the hands in manipulating the bedstead. In the accompanying sheet of drawings- Figure 1 is a. side view of my invention in ai'oldedstate.V

Figure 2, a side sectional view' of the same in an unfolded state, taken in the line a: x, tig. 3.

Figure 3, a transverse section'of the same, taken in theline y y, fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A represents a frame or case, in which the bedstead, Bis' hung, and ot'A suiiioient dimensions to receive and enclose the bedstead, when the same is folded or turned up, as shownin g. 1. IThis frame or case maybe made in a suitable manner, so as to have a chaste and neat appearance, and to imitate,l if desired, a book-case, wardrobe, or other piece of furniture.

The bedstead, B, may be of the ordinary quadrilateral form, having a head and foot-board, a 6, andr two side-pieces, c c. The bottom of the bedstead, in consequence of being exposed when the bedstead is folded upward within the frame or case, and forming the front of the device, should be made in a neat manner, and

`:may have mirrors or `glasses inserted in it, and lined with reps,'to imitate a bookcase. do not conne myself, however, to any particular 'mode of constructing'the bedstead-bottom.

The headboard, a, of the bedstead is made quite heavy, orv has a weight attached, to serve as a counter poise, and to each side oi' the bedste'ad, near the headboard, there-is permanently attached a curved bar, C, to one end of each ci' which, one end ot' a strap, D, is attached, the opposite ends of the straps being attached to the frame or case A, as shown at d in iig. 2.` I

By means of these straps D and curved bars C, the bedstead, as it is raised and lowered, moves from or on a variable or shifting-fulcrum, the latter always being at the point on the bar C where the straps D leave them, and these curved bars C are attached to the sides of' the bedstead in such a position that, as thebedstead is raised, the weight or counterpoise a (the head-board) will act efficiently, or never vary or become inoperative or inert, as would be the-case were the bedstead hung upon a fixed axis, for, in the latter case, the Weight or ounterpoise ceases to act as it passes underneath the axis.

In my improvement, the weight or counterpoise never passes underneath the axis or fulcrum,.but always remains in a line at one side of it, so as to have a. tendency to keep the bedstead, when elevated, in an elevated state, and, at the same time, not increase in etlciency as the bedstead is lowered, so as tocause much ei'ort on the part ot the operator in thus adjusting the bedstead. The design is to have the bedstead as nearly equipoised as possible, so that when the beddingis placed on the latter, the preponderance ofweight Will have a tendency to keep the bedstead in a horizontal position, when in use, and when raised or not in use, have a. tendency to keep it raised or in a closed state. This result can'only be obtained by a shifting or variable fulcrum, arranged to operate substantially as described.

'E E represent the legs of the-b cdstead, which are pivoted to the foot-board l?, the application of legs to the Y foot-board being only required, as the straps D'support the opposite end of the bedstea-d. The pivots or axes, e, of these legs-have coil-springaf, connected to them,\whioh have a tendency to keep them spreadpapart, parallel -with each other, and at right angles with the foot-board b, the portion to support the foot ofthe bedstead when down or adjusted for use, as shown in ig.y 2..

The portion of each leg` E around the pivots or axes e is cylindrical, so asl to form a pulley, fd, concentric with the axes, and these pulleys fX have each a cord, g, attached, and these cords pass through the foot-board o, and are both connected to a common oord, h, which passes through the head-board Aa, and is attached to the rear part of the frame or case A, as shown at e.

These cords g, g, and h perform an important function, to `wit, they draw inward or fold the legs E E onor over thefoot-board b, when the'bedstead is raised, but said cords do not immediately act when the bedstead is rst raised, on account of the cords g g a being slack when the bcdstead is down, but when thc bedstead has reached a certain degree of elevation, the cords tighten, on account of the head, a, ofthe bodstead acting upon cord L, and the legs E E are drawn inward under the influence of the cords gg. The legs E E :1re not thus moved until the foot ofthe bedstead reaches a height above the hand of the operator, or after it is necessary for the operator to remove his hand from the top. The movement-of the legs, therefore, it will be'scen, docs not interfere in the least with the manipulating of the bcdstead.

There is an important result obtained by this automatic movement of the legs, in connection with the raising and lowering of the bedstead, and that is the controlling, in a certain degree, by means of the coil-springs, ofthe legs, the movement ofthe bedstead at the termination of its'upward movement and at the commencement of its downward movement. The resistance offered by said coilsprings prevents the slamming of the bedstead at the termination of itsl upward movement, and the strength of'the springs, (their tendency to expand or unwind,) serves to aid the starting of the bedstead in lowering it.

I would remark that, as regards the variable or shifting-fulcrum, composed oi-` thecurved bars C and straps D, the same result would be obtained by having the b ars C toothed, to formracks, and have racks attached to the frame A, to gear into O. This modification, however, would be more expensive than the one previously described and illustrated. Y y

I would further remark that, in order to steady the movement ofthe bedstead, Ishave aroller, iX, attached to each end of it, and these rollers bear or work against curved pieees,j, within the frame or case A, at each side of the lower part of the same, the curvature of the pieces j j corresponding tothe curvature the headboard a describes in moving in either direction. This will be fully understood by referring to fig. 2.

l I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent-v l. The straps D and curved hars C, iu combination with th partsA B of the bedstead, arranged and oper- `ating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The adjusting or movingof the legs E E'automatically, by the raising or lowering of the bedstead, through the media of the coil-springs and cords, arranged substantially as shown and described. The above speci'tication of my invention signed byme, this fifteenth day of February, 1868.

WM. H. DU'rToN.

Witnesses:

WM. E. McNAMARA, ALEX. EROBERTS. 

